As people get sucked into the vortex of fast-paced lives, where aspirations of career mobility and better financial prospects are offset with rising insecurities and stress, the number of people seeking medical help from psychiatrists has seen a marked increase, if statistics from four state-run mental hospitals are considered.
The number of people treated at these hospitals in Thane, Pune, Nagpur and Ratnagiri have risen from 5,403 indoor and 83,294 OPD patients in 2009-10 to 7,118 and 1,39,791, respectively, in 2013-14. Mental health experts attribute this increase to rising awareness and increasing mental health problems fuelled by lifestyle demands.
According to the state health department's statistics, in 2010-11, 7,146 and 1,09,651 indoor and OPD patients sought medical aid in these hospitals and the number rose to 7,381 and 1,15,886 in 2011-12, and 7,571 and 1,33,455 in 2012-13. In 2014, till April, the figures stand at 679 and 12,449 respectively.
It is estimated that worldwide, one in every 100 suffers from severe mental illnesses, and nearly 10 to 12 per 100 may be suffering from minor mental disorders. Considering Maharashtra's population, it is estimated that there could be around 8-10 lakh people suffering from mental illness.
"Outpatients have increased due to more awareness... the number of young patients too has risen but this rise is also across the board," said psychiatrist Dr Rajendra Barve. He noted that more people were seeking medical help due to oppressive compulsory disorders (OCD), phobias, stress and anxiety, among other such ailments.
Drug dependency, substance abuse, use of narcotics in urban youngsters, especially those from affluent families or those with disposable income, led to them seeking help from shrinks.
"People have become more exacting, they seek accuracy," said Barve, noting that this fuelled a rise in OCD cases. "The social fabric has changed. Families have become smaller and, hence, the number of carers has declined. Hence, these carers (who take care of mentally ill people in their families) are stressed," he added, stating that carers fatigue, coupled with intractability of an illness led to more in-patient admissions in mental hospitals for chronic illness like bi-polar disorders and schizophrenia.
"We are more into the materialistic world than an ethical or moral one," noted Dr Sanjay Kumavat, former superintendent of the Thane Mental Hospital and ex-deputy director (mental health), Government of Maharashtra, adding that depression, frustration, addictions and anger management were among the major categories in patients who sought medical help.
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